Dish · ukrainian
Kutia
Kutia is boiled wheat berries mixed with poppy seeds, honey, walnuts, and raisins into a sweet, chewy grain dish eaten in small portions rather than as a full dessert.
Where it comes from
It's served at Christmas Eve in Ukrainian and neighboring Slavic households, its wheat standing for continuity and its honey standing in for a wish of a sweet year ahead, part of a meal of symbolic foods.
What cooks argue about
Cooks disagree on the poppy seeds: grinding or pounding them into a paste to release their oil and flavor, versus leaving them whole, which some find leaves the dish tasting flat.
Nobody has published a kutia recipe yet. The page stays out of search until one exists, which is the rule for every thin page here.